Packing-machine.



W. F. HIRSCHMAN.

PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, 1914.

Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

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W. F. HIRSCHMAN.

PACKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17. 1914.

Patent-ed Apr. 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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WITNE55E5 l5 INVENTEJR Fi -EI. hY f V WILLIAM F. HIRSCHMAN, OF BUFFALO,NEW YORK.

PACKING-MACHINE.

Application filed February 17, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. Hmsoi-I- MAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing atBuifalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Packing-Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

In machines heretofore employed for packing powdered, loose or granularmaterial which is usually put up in packages it has been impossible tofeed the material into the packages with absolute accuracy owing to thefact that more or less of the material will continue to drop ordischarge from the feeding device into the package after the feedingoperation was arrested. This necessitated re-weighing of each packageand then either make up any deficiency or remove any excess amount ofmaterial from the package which operation wasted time and added to thecost of packing the goods.

It is the object of this invention to provide a packing machine havingmeans which preferably operate automatically to open the passage for thematerial to be packed when the packing machine starts and runs and toautomatically close this passage when the operation of the packingmachine stops, which means are simple and durable in construction andreliable and efficient in operation so that an eXact predeterminedamount may be fed into the package and thus avoid subsequent re-weighingof the package and adjusting of the contents thereof for obtaining anaccurate amount of material in the package.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure l is a front elevation, partly insection, of a packing machine adapted for packing powdered or similarmaterial into packages. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation, partlyin section, of the upper part of the mechanism for operating the feedinganger or screw and the valve or shutter mecha nism. Fig. 3 is afragmentary elevation, partly in section, of the lower part of thefeeding anger or screw, valve or shutter mechanism and associated parts.Figs. 4: and 5 are horizontal. sections taken in the correspondinglynumbered lines in Fig. 2. Fi 6 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinalsection, on an enlarged scale, taken in line (5 (3, Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is abottom plan view of the feed screw or auger and the valve, shutter orcut-off device, the latter being shown in its closed position. Fig. 8 isa Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 25, 191%.

Serial No. 819,267.

chines for packing granular or powdered material which may varyconsiderably as to their detail construction, that shown in the drawingsbeing merely illustrative of one more form of machine to which myimprovement is applicable. The machine shown in the drawings, forexample, comprises a main frame 1 which may be of any suitableconstruction to support the working parts of the machine and avertically movable platform or table 2 adapted to support the bag,barrel, can or other package which is adapted to receive the material,the package 3 for this purpose represented in Fig. 1 being a barrel.Above the platform is arranged an upright feed tube or conduit 4:preferably of cylindrical form which is adapted to deliver the packingmaterial through its open lower end into the package to be filled. Ahopper 5 is arranged in the upper part of the main frame and adapted todeliver the material to be packed from a bin or other source of supplyin the upper end of the feed tube, and a feed screw or anger 6 isarranged within the feed tube and rotatable therein about a verticalaxis for the purpose of moving the material therein downwardly anddelivering the same into the open upper end of the package to be filled.In practice the platform supporting the package descends'in the samemeasure as the filling of the package progresses and when the desiredamount of material has been fed into the package the rotation of thefeed screw and the descent of the platform is arrested which lastmentioned operation may be effected either manually or by automaticmeans, either of which may be of any suitable or well knownconstruction.

In order to adapt the machine for dif ferent sizes or packages the tubeis removably connected with the hopper so that it can be replaced by oneof larger or smaller diameter and when this is done a feed screw oranger is also substituted for one of corresponding diameter. In order topermit of this interchanging augers or screws of varying diameter theshaft which drives the augers is made up of a lower section 7 which ispreferably formed integrally with the threads of the auger and an uppersection 8 whichis detachably connected with the lower section andjournaled in any suitable manner in the upper part ofthe main frame,:forinstance, by means of upper and lower bearings 9, 1.0 formed on a. crosspiece 11 mounted on the upper part of themain frame. The detachableconnection between the upper and lower sections of the auger shaft maybe effected in various ways, that shown in the, drawings, for example,being satisfactory and comprising a coupling sleeve 12 having a screwconnection at its upper end with the lower end of the upper auger shaftsection and provided at its lower end with an internal flange 13 .whichengages with an external flange 14: on the upper end of the lower augershaft section. The opposing ends of the two auger shaft sections aredrawn against each other by the sleeve 12 and caused to turn together.

My. improvements are, intended to open and close the passage for'thepowdered 0r granular material between the feed tube and feed auger so asto permit the flow of material into the package and to stop the furtherdischarge of material through this passage after the desired. amount hasbeen delivered into the package to be filled. The means for this purposewhich are shown in Figs. 18 of the drawings represent but one embodimentof my invention and as there shown the same is constructed as follows:

At its lower end the feed screw or auger having a single thread shown inFigs. 1, 3, 7 and 8 is provided with a rabbet or pocket forming ahorizontal valve 'face 15 extending forwardly from the extreme lower endof the thread of this screw and a vertical shoulder 16 at the inner endof. the horizontal'face. Within this rabbet is arranged the valve,shutter or cutoff which is adapted to be moved either into this rabbetfor uncovering or opening the passage between the lower end of the augerand the adjacent part of the feed tube or this valve may be moved outvof this rabbet and across the passageway between the lower end of theauger and the tube for closing this passageway. The form of valverepresented in Figs. 1, 3, 7 and 8 comprises two segmental platesections 17, 18 which are arranged one above the other and each havingap proximately an area equal to about one third of the cross sectionalarea of the feed tube while the flat face of the rabbet at the lower endof the. feed screw is also of substantially segmental form having anarea somewhat more than one-third of the cross sectional area of thefeed tube. The two sections of the valve are pivoted concentrically withthe axis of the auger and are adapted to be folded and lie one above theother within the pocket of the anger, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 8, sothat only about one-third of the cross sectional area of the tube isobstructed by the lower end of the auger leaving the remaining parts ofthe area of the tube forming the passageway uncovered or opened so thatwhen the auger is turned forwardly the material within the tube will bemoved downwardly by the auger and delivered into the package below thesame. Upon unfolding the two sections of the valve, as shown in Fig. 7,the two sections thereof are spread like the leaves of a fan so as toextend across the passageway between the lower end of the auger and thefeed tube, thereby closing this passageway and preventing the escape ofmaterial from the tube. As shown in the drawings the upper valve section17 is provided with an upwardly projecting pin 19 projecting in asegmental groove 20 formed in the horizontal face or top 15 of thepocket and the lower valve section 18 is provided with an upwardlyprojecting pin 21 engaging with a segmental groove 22 formed in theunderside of the upper valve section. The effect of this connectionbetween the two valve sections and the upper valve section and the feedanger is such that when the lower valve section and the auger are movedrelatively to each other in a circumferential direction for unfoldingthe valve the lower section will first unfold relatively to the uppersection until the pin 21 engages with the rear end of the groove 22 inthe upper shutter section after which the upper section travels with thelower section until the rear edge of the lower valve section engageswith the lower part of the feed a uger adjacent to the shoulder 16 ofthe pocket. as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and by full lines in Fig.7, and the pin 19 on the upper valve section engages with the rear endof the groove 20 in the lower end of the feed auger, as shown in Fig. 7.Upon moving the lower valve section and the feed auger in the oppositedirection circumferentially operating the shutter so as to close thepassageway between the feed tube and auger when the machine is at restand opening this passageway when the machine is in operation but thoseshown in the drawings are suitable and preferable and comprise anupright valve shaft Qt, 25 which is arranged within the screw or augershaft, the latter being made hollow or tubular for this purpose. Uponturning the valve shaft in one direction relatively to the auger shaftthe valve will be moved into its closed position across the passagewaybetween the auger and tube while upon moving the valve shaft in theopposite direction the valve will be moved out of the passageway betweenthe auger and tube. For convenience in permitting the valve mechanism tobe adapted to the particular size of feed tube and auger the valve shaftis made up of an upper section 24 which is journaled within the uppersection of the auger shaft and a lower section 25 which is journaledwithin the lower section of the auger shaft and a detachable connectionis provided between the opposing ends of the valve shaft whichpreferably comprises a tongue 26 formed at the upper end of the lowervalve shaft section and entering a notch or recess 27 in the lower endof the upper valve shaft section, as shown in Fig. 1. The lower valveshaft section is supported against dropping in the lower auger shaftsection by means of a collar or flange 28 formed on the upper part ofthe lower valve shaft section and engaging with the upper end of thelower auger shaft section. The lower valve section is secured to thelower end of the lower valve shaft section and the upper valve sectionturns loosely upon this valve shaft section immediately above the lowervalve section.

Means are provided for turning the auger and valve together forwardly aswell as permitting a limited independent movement of these partsrelatively to each other for either opening or closing the passagebetween the auger and tube. The preferred means for this purpose whichare shown in the drawings comprise a horizontal driving shaft 29journaled transversely in suitable bearings on the upper part of themain frame, a driving pulley 30 mounted loosely at the outer end of thedriving shaft and adapted to receive a driving belt 31, a clutch adaptedto connect and disconnect the driving pulley and shaft and preferablycomprising a clutch ring 32 having its hub splined on the driving shaftand having the conical face on its periphery movable into and out ofengagement with the corresponding clutch face 33 on the rim of thedriving pulley, and a shifting lever 34 pivoted on the main frame andengaging with the hub of the clutch ring. At its inner end the drivingshaft is provided with a driving bevel. gear wheel which meshes with adriven bevel gear wheel 36 mounted to turn loosely to a limited extentabout the upper part of the upper auger shaft section but positivelyconnected with the upper end of the upper valve shaft section, this lastmentioned connection being preferably effected by means of a pin 37connecting the hub of the driven gear wheel with the upper valve shaftsection and movable circumferentially through a segmental slot 38 formedin the adjacent part of the upper auger shaft section, as shown in Fig.5. A spring device is provided between the auger shaft and the valveshaft which is placed under tension during the forward movement of thevalve shaft independently of the forward movement of the auger shaft andremains under tension while these two shafts and the parts connectedtherewith turn forwardly during the operation of discharging materialfrom the tube by the action of the auger while the passage between theauger and the tube is opened by the valve. This spring device preferablycomprises a helical spring 39 sur rounding the upper part of the upperauger shaft section and secured at its upper end to this auger shaftsection while its lower end is secured to the hub of the driven gearwheel 36, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

\Vhen the machine is at rest and the clutch between the driving shaftand driving pulley is uncoupled the resilience of the spring 39 causesthe valve shaft and the parts connected therewith to be turnedbaclrwardly so that the valve at the lower end of the auger is unfoldedand forms an extension at the lower end of the auger for closing thepassage between the auger and tube, thereby preventing any of thematerial con fined in this passage from escaping conwardly from thetube. Upon coupling the driving shaft with the driving pulley by meansof the clutch the valve shaft will be first turned forwardly to alimited extent independently of the auger shaft for causing the valve tobe moved out of the passageway between the tube and auger and into thepocket, at the lower end of the auger, thereby uncovering this passageto permit the discharge of material therefrom. Immediately after thevalve has been thus folded or moved into its open or inoperativeposition by the movement of the valve shaft independently of the augershaft, the auger shaft and the parts connected therewith are also causedto move forwardly with the valve shaft for the purpose of causing theauger to move the material downwardly through the tube and deliver itfrom the lower end thereof into the package to be filled. This turningof the auger with the valve during the operation of feeding ma tcr ialfrom the tube may be effected by transmission'of movement from the lowerend of the valve shaft to the auger through the medium of the pins whichconnect the valve sections with each other and the auger and byengagement of the front edge of the valve sections with the shoulder 16of the pocket but inasmuch as these cooperating parts are located aconsiderable distance from the source of power twisting of the valveshaft is liable to occur and it is therefore preferable to elfectacoupling'of the auger shaft and valve shaft atthe upper ends thereofnear the source of Dower. For this purpose the driven gearwheel 36 isprovided on its underside with a driving lug 40 which is adapted toengage with, afront driving shoulder 41 formed on the upper side of adriving collar 42 secured to the adjacent part of the auger shaft.During the back Ward movement of the driven gearwheel relatively to theauger shaft the driving lug 40 engages with a rear shoulder 43 on thedriving collar and thereby operates to limit the backward movement ofthe valve while closing the passageway between the auger and tube andrelieving the valve shaft of any twisting strains. During this forwardmovement of the valve shaft independently of the auger shaft the spring39 is wound up and strained and the instant the driving shaft isdisconnected from the driving pulley which is eflected upon thecompletion of the filling'of a package with material the resilience ofthe spring 39 turns the driving shaft backwardly to a limited extentthrough the medium of the gear wheels 35., 36 and also turns the valveshaft backwardly, while the auger remains at rest, thereby causing thevalve to be moved rearwardlv to close the passageway in the tube andprevent the further escape of material therefrom.

When the feed tube is filled with material the friction of the augeragainst the same is usually suiiicient to hold the latter at rest untilthe valve shaft has'moved forwardly independently of the auger andopened the valve. Inasmuch, however, as this material at times may notoffer sufficient resistance to the turning of the auger during theinitial forward movement of the valve shaft means are provided wherebythe auger is positively held against turning forwardly until the valvehas been turned forwardly into its open position, and thereby alwayslnsure opening of the passageway n the tube preparatory to beginningturning forward of the auger and discharging material from the tube. Themeans for this purpose which are shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 6 of thedrawings are constructed as follows: 44 represents a vertically movablelocking bolt which is guided in a way 45 formed in a bracket 46 on thecross piece below the driving collar and adapted to engage with alocking opening or recess 47 in the underside of the driving collar.This locking bolt 1s yieldlngly held in its elevated position by meansof a spring 48 arranged in said guidcway and bearing at its upper endagainst the lower end of the locking bolt and its upper movement islimited by means which may consist of a pin 49 projecting laterally fromthe locking bolt and into engagement with the the upper end of a slot 50formed in the bracket 46. The locking opening is formed in the drivingcollar immediately in rear of the front driving shoulder ll thereof.\Vithin a recess 51 formed in the driving collar above the lockingopening is arranged a vertically swinging tripping latch 52 which ispivoted on the driving collar adapted to engage with the upper end ofthe lockin g bolt. The tripping latch is adapted to be engaged by thedriving lug 40 of the driven gear wheels.

When the machine is at rest the locking bolt projects upwardly into thelocking opening of the driving collar so as to hold the auger againstturning, and the tripping latchv engages with the upper end of thelocking bolt and projects upwardly into the path of the driving lug ofthe driven gear wheel, as shown in Fig. 6. During the last part of theinitial forward movement of the driven gear wheel and the valve shaftinde pendently of the anger, the driving lug 40 engages with the freeend of the tripping latch and presses the same downwardly until theunderside of this latch is flush with the underside of the drivingcollar, thereby pushing a locking bolt downwardly out of the lockingrecess in the driving collar and permitting the latter and the augershaft to turn with the valve shaft by reason of the driving lug 40engaging with the front driving shoulder 41 immediately after thelocking bolt is disengaged from the driving collar. The parts remain inthis relative position during the time that the auger and valve areturning forward simultaneously and discharging material from the tubeinto the passage during which time the tripping latch is held in itsdepressed position by the driving lug so that the locking bolt cannotreenter the locking opening, and while the driving collar is thus freeto turn the upper end of the locking bolt rides id]. T against theunderside of the driving collar. lVhen the clutch is uncoupled thespring 39 turns the driven gear wheel 36 backward together with thevalve shaft and driving shaft a limited extent for causing the valve toclose the passageway in the feed tube. At this time the driving lug 4.0also moves backwardly away from the front driving shoulder 41 andpermits the tripping latch to be lifted by. the locking bolt which israised by its spring into the locking opening of the driving collar theinstant-this opening and the bolt come into register by the subsequentturning of the driving collar into a position to permit of such action,thereby again holding the auger against turning forwardly during theinitial forward movement of the valve shaft.

Instead of employing a valve, shutter or cut-off having two sections asindicated in Figs. 1, 3, 7 and 8, this valve may consist of but a singlesection 53 secured to the lower end of the valve shaft 54, as shown inFigs. 9 and 10, for closing the space between the lower end of the auger55 and the feed tube.

When employing an auger 56 having a double thread, as shown in Figs. 11and. 12, the valve may consist of two segmental sections 57, 58 whichare both secured to the lower end of a valve shaft 59 and projectdiametrically from opposite sides thereof so that upon turning thisvalve forwardly independent of the auger 60 one of the valve sectionswill close the passage at the lower end of one thread and the othervalve sec tion will close the passage at the lower end of the otherthread.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description of my invention thatthe same will positively and reliably cut-off the further escape ofmaterial from the packing tube the instant the operation of the packeris arrested, and that no interference occurs with the discharge ofmaterial when the operation of the packer is resumed, therebyfacilitating the packing of loose materials without the necessity ofre-weighing the packages and adjusting the contents thereof.

My improvement is applicable to any of the well known forms of packingmachines now on the market and does not require any extensivealterations in the same to permit of receiving my improvement. Itfurthermore in no wise interferes with the methods of packing heretoforein use nor with the automatic mechanism for stopping and starting theplatform when a predetermined amount of material. has been deliveredinto the package, thereby avoiding the necessity of specially trainingthe operatives in, the use of my improved packing machine.

I claim as my invention:

1. A packing machine comprising a delivery tube, a feed auger rotatablein said tube and having a hollow shaft, a valve shaft arranged in saidhollow shaft, a valve projecting laterally from the valve shaft andadapted to open and close the passage between the auger and tube, meansfor turning said valve shaft forwardly, and a spring operativelyconnecting said screw and cutoff shafts.

2. A packing machine comprising a delivery tube, a feed auger rotatablein said tube and having a hollow shaft, a valve shaft arranged in saidhollow shaft, a valve projecting laterally from the valye shaft andadapted to open and close the passage between the auger and tube, meansfor turning said valve shaft comprising a driven wheel loosely mountedon the auger shaft and connected with said valve shaft, and a springsurrounding the auger shaft and connected. at one end with the latterand at its other end with said driven wheel.

3. A packing machine comprising a delivery tube, a feed auger rotatablein said tube and having a hollow shaft, a valve shaft arranged in saidhollow shaft, a valve projecting laterally from the valve shaft andadapted to open and close the passage between the auger and tube, meansfor turning said valve shaft comprising a driven wheel loosely mountedon the auger shaft and connected with said valve shaft, a springsurrounding the auger shaft and connected at one end with the latter andat its other end with said driven wheel, a driving shaft, and a drivingwheel mounted on the driving shaft and engaging the driven wheel.

4. A packing machine comprising a delivery tube, a feed auger rotatablein said tube and having a hollow shaft. a valve shaft arranged in saidhollow shaft, a valve projecting laterally from the valve shaft andadapted to open and close the passage between the auger and tube, meansfor turning said. valve shaft forwardly comprising a driving shaftoperatively connected with said valve shaft, a spring operatively connecting said auger and valve shafts, a driving pulley, and a clutchadapted to connect and disconnect said driving shaft and pulley.

5. A packing machine comprising a clelivery tube, a feed auger rotatablein said tube and having a hollow shaft, a valve shaft arranged in saidhollow shaft, a valve projecting laterally from the valve shaft andadapted to open and close the passage between the auger and tube, meansfor turning said valve forwardly, means for compelling said auger shaftto turn with said valve shaft at the end of a predetermined move-- mentof the latter independently of the auger shaft, and locking means forholding said auger shaft against turning forwardly until the valve shafthas completed its independent forward movement and has opened saidvalve.

6. A packing machine comprising a delivery tube, a feed auger rotatablein said tube and having a hollow shaft, a valve shaft arranged in saidhollow shaft, a valve projecting laterally from the valve shaft Ta andadapted to open and close the passage between the auger and tube, meansfor turning said valve forwardly, means for compolling said auger shaftto turn with said. valve shaft at the end of a predetermined movement ofthe latter independently of the auger shaft, and locking means forholding said auger shaft against turning forwardly until the valve shafthas completed its inclependent forward movement and has opened saidvalve, said locking means comprising a movable bolt mounted on astationary part and engaging with a locking member turning with saidauger and means operated by the turning of said valve shaft fordisengaging said bolt from said locking member. 7. A packing machinecomprising a delivery .tube, a feed auger rotatable in said tube andhaving a hollow shaft, avalve shaft arranged in said hollow shaft, avalve projecting laterally from the valve shaft and adapted to open andclose the passage between the auger and tube, means for turning saidvalve forwardly, means for compolling said auger shaft to turn with saidvalve shaft at the end of a predetermined movement of the latterindependently of the auger shaft, comprising a driving collar arrangedon the auger shaft and having a driving shoulder or face, and a drivinglug mounted on the valve shaft and adapted to Copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the engage said shoulder,and locking means for holding said auger shaft against turning forwardlyuntil the valve shaft has completed its independent forward movement andhas opened said valve, comprising a locking opening formed in saidcollar, a bolt guided on a stationary part, a spring adapted to presssaid bolt against said collar and engage it with said locking opening,and a tripping latch movably mounted on said collar and adapted to beshifted. by said lug for disengaging said bolt from said locking openingand releasing the auger to permit the latter to move forwardly with thevalve.

Witness my hand this 16th day of February, 1914:.

WILLIAM F. HIRSCHMAN. l Vitnesses:

Tnno. L. Porr, E. M. GRAHAM.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

